Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Our School Schedule and What to Do with the Youngest Kids!

I have had a few questions regarding our school schedule and what I do with the non-schooling kids while I teach the rest.  So, hopefully this answers some of those questions.

IDEALLY if everything goes as planned, which it seldom does, this is what our schedule looks like:
7:30 kids wake, make beds, get dressed, eat breakfast
8:00 chore time
8:30 read aloud time when I read to the kids
9:00 Pepe & AJ start on their Phonics, Math, Spelling books while I teach RJ (if the boys are working hard, they will be finished long before 11)
11:00 Pepe and I do composition
12:00 lunch (um, ya, like I said, if it is an ideal day!)
1:00 Mondays and Wednesdays the boys and I do Science, Tuesdays and Fridays we do Geography.  We should be done by 2 or 2:30

I school from September 1 to May 30 and we finish all our curriculum during that time.

Thursday we don't do school since we are at a homeschool co-op every Thursday morning.

Some things I would like to work on:
1.  Get the kids up at 7 so we can get more chores accomplished and start school a bit earlier.
2.  Organize the chores just a bit better for the kids so they are more involved with that.  Right now, Mondays the boys clean the bathrooms, Tuesdays the kids strip the beds of sheets and the boys put the clean sheets back on, Wednesdays the garbages are collected and after that I keep forgetting.  There is much more that can be scheduled in.
3.  Work scripture memory back into our day which will work if we implement #1.

What do the littlest girls do while I teach the others?  Well, Ali has her own preschool book that she works in whenever she wants on whatever page she wants.  It is not structured for her but if she is at the table and wants some help, I will take the time to explain what to do.  She just likes to be a part of the group.  I have also printed off pages of printing practice sheets so she can work on her printing.  She usually stays for just a little while and then is off playing with Ari.  We do school downstairs and that is where all the toys are so they are usually in my sight the whole time.  They are not allowed to go upstairs while I am teaching since that usually means they are doing something they shouldn't - or making a mess.

Sometimes, life presents other opportunities for learning so we will take the time for that.  Character is far more important to me than book learning.  Sometimes the house is a disaster and no one can walk for 3 feet without tripping on stuff so we take the time to clean.  Like today.  Since a designer is actually coming over later on to help us think through our blueprints to ensure we haven't missed anything, I figure the upstairs should at least be presentable.

Any more questions, just let me know!

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